The present invention is related to a system and method of testing voltage suppressor systems.
Transient voltage suppression (TVS) devices are commonly used in electronic circuitry to protect sensitive components from the effects of transient overvoltage conditions. A commonly employed configuration includes a TVS diode connected in shunt with the protected circuitry. In response to a transient overvoltage event exceeding the avalanche breakdown potential of the TVS diode, excess current is shunted through the TVS diode, suppressing all overvoltages above the breakdown voltage of the TVS diode. In this way, the TVS diode acts to clamp the voltage below the avalanche breakdown potential of the TVS diode, thereby protecting sensitive components from damage.
TVS devices are commonly used in aircraft applications to protect electronic circuitry from transient overvoltage conditions caused by lightning strikes. However, once installed it is difficult to test whether the TVS device is working properly. In particular, in aircraft applications testing of TVS devices requires the aircraft to be at a servicing center having equipment capable of generating a controlled pulse of energy sufficient to activate the TVS diode and test the external response of the system to determine whether the circuit is working properly.